Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO) 2013 TV135 Daniel R
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Volume 39 The Newsletter of AIAA Houston Section November / December 2013 Issue 3 The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics www.aiaahouston.org Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO) 2013 TV135 Daniel R. Adamo, Astrodynamics Consultant AIAA Houston Section Horizons November / December 2013 Page 1 [Near the top of every page is an invisible link to return to this page. The link is in located here (the blue bar), but not all pages display this bar.] November / December 2013 Horizons, Newsletter of AIAA Houston Section T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Chair’s Corner, by Michael Frostad 3 From the Editor, by Douglas Yazell 4 Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO) 2013 TV135, by Daniel R. Adamo 5 Kelly’s Corner #1: Comments on a magazine article: Son of Blackbird 15 The Enigmatic Giant Polygons of Mars, Dr. Dorothy Z. Oehler 16 Horizons is a bimonthly publication of the Houston Section Short Report from the Golden Spike Workshop, Larry Jay Friesen 20 of The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Chapter 12 (Houston) of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) 23 Douglas Yazell, Editor Horizons team: Dr. Steven E. Everett, Ellen Gillespie, The 15th Anniversary of the International Space Station, Olivier Sanguy 24 Shen Ge, Don Kulba, Alan Simon, Ryan Miller Regular contributors: The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport 27 Dr. Steven E. Everett, Douglas Yazell, Scott Lowther, Philippe Mairet, Wes Kelly, Triton Systems LLC Prepared at the request of 3AF MP, the Late (1925-2013) Scott Carpenter 28 Contributors this issue: James C. McLane III, Jim Wes- sel, Michael Frostad, Dr. Patrick E. Rodi, Daniel R. Dinner Meeting Presentation, Part 3 of 6, The Late James C. McLane, Jr. 33 Adamo, Astrodynamics Consultant, Dr. Stanley G. Love AIAA Houston Section Automated Transfer Vehicle Disintegrates, as Expected (CNES) 34 Executive Council Climate Change and Local Responses 36 Michael Frostad Chair The JSC Astronomical Society (JSCAS), Astronomer’s Chair, James Wessel 37 Dr. Michael Martin Shen Ge JSCAS Calendars/The Antarctic Search for Meteorites: Dr. Stanley G. Love 38 Chair-Elect Secretary Comet ISON: AWOL, Dr. Patrick E. Rodi 43 Daniel Nobles Jennifer Wells Past Chair Treasurer Section News: Calendar & Cranium Crunchers 44 Eryn Beisner Clay Stangle Organization Charts (3AF MP & Our Section) & Student Section News 46 Vice-Chair, Operations Vice-Chair, Technical The Back Cover: NASA’s Asteroid Initiative 50 Operations Technical Dr. Gary Turner Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV Horizons and AIAA Houston Section Web Site Laura Sarmiento Bebe Kelly-Serrato Eetion Narcisse Dr. Zafar Taqvi AIAA 2013 National Communications Third Place Award Winner: Section Chair Daniel Nobles Rafael Munoz Liz Warren Svetlana Hanson Dr. Satya Pilla Victoria Wills Sheikh Ahsan Douglas Yazell Roger Kleinhammer Ryan Miller Dr. Steven E. Everett Kathleen Coderre Gary Brown Irene Chan (acting) Ted Kenny This newsletter is created by members of AIAA Houston Section. Opinions expressed herein other Dr. Kamlesh Lulla than by elected Houston Section officers belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily repre- Ludmila Dmitriev-Odier sent the position of AIAA or the Houston Section. Unless explicitly stated, in no way are the com- Evelyn Mirellas ments of individual contributors to Horizons to be construed as necessarily the opinion or position of AIAA, NASA, its contractors, or any other organization. All articles in Horizons, unless other- wise noted, are the property of the individual contributors. Reproduction/republishing in any form Councilors except limited excerpts with attribution to the source, will require the express approval of the indi- Alan Sisson vidual authors. Please address all newsletter correspondence to editor2012[at]aiaahouston.org. Christopher Davila Dr. Larry Friesen Cover: This view of a cloudless Earth at 06:01 UT on 26 August 2032 is from Shirley Brandt an altitude of 70,300 km. In the foreground is a hypothetical asteroid 400 m Sarah Shull across on a trajectory which will graze Earth’s atmosphere at an altitude of 42 Irene Chan Robert Plunkett km in just under two hours (see the Leading Graze trajectory in Figure 3 of the Ellen Gillespie story starting on page 5). This asteroid is in an orbit about the Sun very similar Michael Kezirian to that of small body 2013 TV135, but implausibly behind current best estimates Douglas Yazell of 2013 TV135’s position nearly 19 years from now. Image credit: Daniel R. www.aiaahouston.org Adamo & Celestia. This page: the 1889 van Gogh painting The Starry Night. AIAA Houston Section Horizons November / December 2013 Page 2 Page 3 The International Space Station— Chair’s Corner 15 Years in Orbit MICHAEL FROSTAD, CHAIR The International Space Station (ISS), a ter (AMS) made headlines. It was an- will be of paramount concern. This will be a hub for current human exploration sci- nounced that over two years AMS had major part of the upcoming year-long stay of ence, has just celebrated its 15th anniver- counted billions of particles, both elec- astronaut Scott Kelly and Cosmonaut Mi- sary. For any child born after November trons and positrons. Upon analysis of the khail Kornienko in 2015. This data cannot 2000, they have never known a time in data, it was shown that the data backs the currently be obtained anywhere else. The which there have been no humans in idea of positrons coming from the de- ISS is an essential component for addressing space! This is truly an amazing feat of struction of dark matter, but it does not these issues and thus the future of human humanity and it is due to the dedication conclusively rule out other explanations spaceflight. and work of those here on the ground that (yet). Data collection by the AMS con- makes it happen. It is the coordinated ef- tinues. The more we know of how the From the science mentioned above, the ISS forts of those on the ground and those in universe works, the more we can explore can be seen to perform an essential role for space that insure the ISS is continually it, harness it, and ensure humanity’s fu- the future of human spaceflight. The science supplied, continues to function, and con- ture. being performed on the ISS is building up tinues to explore. our knowledge of the human body and help- On the human physiology side, research ing us to build a clearer understanding of the This year alone the ISS has been visited continues on muscle and bone mass of universe and our place in it. The more we by six resupply vehicles, with one more astronauts and cosmonauts, but an in- understand our place in this universe and targeted for late December. In addition, creasing amount of attention is being how we ourselves react to its many environ- there have been four Expeditions given to eyesight. It has been shown that ments the better we will be prepared for the launched to the ISS, each with three crew about 60% of astronauts have had vary- future. This research, in addition to other members trained for years to maintain the ing levels of vision impairment due to ISS research projects not mentioned here, is space station, perform the science experi- extra pressure on the eyes from fluid not just for human spaceflight, but for the ments on orbit, and to do direct education- redistribution in the body in microgravi- future of humanity. al outreach from the orbiting platform. By ty. (Astronaut vision returned to normal the end of this year the ISS will have been upon returning to Earth.) Continuing to So as we take a moment to celebrate 15 visited by 10 spacecraft from Russia, Ja- monitor the eyes of the ISS crew, in ad- years of the ISS in orbit, let us also say to all pan, Europe, and the United States. dition to other organs and bodily func- those who have worked on the ISS and those tions, will build the data sets necessary that continue to do so, “Congratulations on But what of the science being performed to develop effective countermeasures. If 15 years of successful operation, thank you on the ISS? In the field of physics, earlier we are to do long duration microgravity for your hard work, and we look forward to this year the Alpha Magnetic Spectrome- spaceflight, understanding these effects the next discovery!” Image credit: NASA. Image source: www.enjoyspace.com, the website of la Cité de l’Espace. AIAA Houston Section Horizons November / December 2013 Page 3 Page 4 From the Editor Asteroid Trackers, Mars Rovers, and Moonwalkers DOUGLAS YAZELL, EDITOR Our cover story by discussion group, so that is now working. with our next issue. That is the industry Dan Adamo (“asteroid Please join us there often with your com- standard. It allows more variety in output tracker”) is a great ments. formats. I first heard about it when the start for this issue. We Dr. James Everett of the Johnson Space American Astronautical Society (AAS) now return to our bi- Center Astronomical Society (JSCAS) started using it for their excellent maga- monthly schedule after continues allowing us to reprint his series zine, Space Times. delays since April of of articles about building an astronomy Now that we are returning to our bi- this year. This issue chair. Dr. Stanley G. Love allowed James monthly schedule, a quarterly schedule is will be online and pub- Everett and me to create an article about not tempting, but a monthly schedule is licized by December 10, 2013, completing Love’s November 2013 presentation at tempting. Maybe the best idea is to pro- our work on three issues in three months. the monthly JSCAS meeting.